About St. Joseph Health

SJH provides a full range of care facilities including 16 acute care hospitals,
home health agencies, hospice care, outpatient services, skilled nursing
facilities, community clinics and physician groups. All of our hospital
and home health entities are accredited by the Joint Commission. In our
award-winning facilities, SJH maintains a "continuum of care," matched
to the diverse needs of the urban centers, smaller cities and rural communities
who depend on us every day.

HealthCalling

Stand Up for Your Health

Did you know that sitting for long periods of time can increase your risk
of cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and depression? More
than 86 percent of the American population have desk jobs. This means,
that on average, including time spent lounging on the couch, we spend
more than 11 hours a day sitting down. Add a good night’s rest of
eight hours sleep onto that, and that’s a whopping 80 percent of
our lives being completely sedentary! So what can we do to reduce this
risks and live healthier lives? It’s simple. Stand up and move around.

Research has shown that standing up and moving around for as little as
two minutes, every half hour, can reduce your risk of certain disease.
But, while modern health guidelines recommend a minimum of 150 minutes
per week of moderate exercise such as brisk walking or vacuuming, studies
have actually shown that people who exercise in this way are still at
risk of experiencing health issues. Why? Because they do these activities
in short bursts and are otherwise sedentary.

“Regular exercise routines, when coupled with simple, more regular
habits, such as standing up and moving around more often, are actually
better, as the frequency helps to regulate our hearts, and improve our
blood circulation. It also helps to burn excess calories and tackle unhealthy
weight gain,” suggests
Christopher Celio, MD, The initiative seeks to actively encourage Western Digital employees,
which are in the thousands, to live more active, healthy lifestyles, as
well as provide easy access to outstanding health care. And, although
it's big project that spans a variety of medical subspecialties, every
day we say to Western Digital's employees 'Get up, and move around
more,'" he states.

On average, when we are sitting at a desk, our body needs approximately
75 calories per hour, to keep our organs functioning. This is not a lot
when we consider that two pieces of whole-wheat, buttered toast contain
approximately 450 calories. That means it would take our body six hours
to burn all those calories sitting still. And let’s be honest here,
there’s no way we can function on just two pieces of toast for a
whole day. Aside from being unrealistic, it is also just plain unhealthy.
However, if we spent that time combining sitting, with standing and movement,
we would have burned all those calories in just three hours.

Standing more is a great way to help battle the risk of certain diseases,
but too much of anything can be bad for you, and standing is no different.
“Standing for long periods at a time is known to cause varicose
veins and contribute to back pain,” states Dr. Celio, “so
it’s generally better to mix sitting, standing and movement.”
Getting up every 20 to 30 minutes, standing for about eight minutes and
moving around for two minutes, is a good balance. “If you’re
going to work on your laptop while you are standing up, make sure you
maintain good posture,” he advises. Ensure your screen is resting
at eye level so that you’re not hunching your back forward.

The first step to making the change from being sedentary to moving around,
is to recognize when and where you tend to be the most sedentary and be
aware of how long you are sitting. Try setting an alarm that goes off
every half hour as a reminder for you to get up and move around. At first,
it may seem tedious and challenging, especially when you’re at work
and have lots of emails to write and phone calls to make. But, with practice
you will be able to adjust your behaviors and adopt healthier ones. This
type of half-hour-break system is also a great way to give your mind those
little stress-pauses it needs to stay happy and healthy.

Have you got any nifty tips on how to make sure you move more during your
work day? Share them in the comments below.

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The general information presented by HealthCalling is not intended to serve
as medical advice or as a diagnosis. Please get in touch with your primary
care physician for any medical concerns. For suggested topics and comments
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